Man arrested for supplying illegal firearms, 20 weapons recovered

Ajay told the police that he used to work for his brother Prashant, who had promised hefty earnings in return. Prashant used to pay Ajay Rs 1,000 per weapon

NEW DELHI: With the arrest of a 39-year-old man, the Delhi Police Special Cell has busted an interstate gang for allegedly carrying out illegal firearm trade. About 20 semiautomatic sophisticated pistols have been recovered from his possession, police said.

The police said the accused, Ajay Bhardwaj, a resident of Firozabad in Uttar Pradesh, was arrested from east Vinod Nagar area here.

According to the police, the gang used to procure sophisticated semi-automatic pistols from Dhar in Madhya Pradesh and sell them to anti-social elements in Delhi and NCR.

“We found out that most of the illegal sophisticated weapons used in crimes in Delhi and neighbourhood were smuggled from Madhya Pradesh,” said PS Kushwah, DCP (Special Cell).

On Friday, the police learnt that Ajay would come to Vinod Nagar to deliver a huge cache of Dhar-manufactured semiautomatic weapons to someone. A trap was laid and he was apprehended

“He revealed that he worked for his brother Prashant. This consignment of illegal arms was supplied to Prashant’s contact. The accused admitted to have supplied 5-6 consignments of illegal weapons in Delhi-ncr. A hunt is on to nab Prashant,” Kushwah said.

The police said Ajay was in jail for sometime, after his wife filed a domestic violence case against him. After he was released from jail, he started working for Prashant and supplied illegal arms and ammunition from Madhya Pradesh to Delhi-ncr.

Prashant used to sell the firearms to his contacts, including gangsters, at exorbitant rates.

Ajay told the police that his brother had promised hefty earnings if he worked for him. Prashant used to pay Ajay Rs 1,000 per weapon, police added.